


June

by Icandigelvis



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Light Angst, M/M, Melancholy, Oneshot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-11
Updated: 2016-10-11
Packaged: 2018-08-21 23:10:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8263909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Icandigelvis/pseuds/Icandigelvis
Summary: There was a white rose bush growing in the garden. I couldn’t recall ever seeing it before but now it was just… there.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This short oneshot/drabble came out of nowhere. If you've read "Most Beloved Sister" this is a different take of that.

There was a white rose bush growing in the garden. I couldn’t recall ever seeing it before but now it was just… _there_. I figured someone from the apartment complex paid for it themselves because I doubted our landlord gave a flying fuck about flowers considering the state of the rest of the garden. I walked up to it, listening to my shoes crunch against the gravel, and leaned forwards after checking no one was watching. It smelled really good, almost like my grandmother’s yellow roses back home.

With a sigh I walked over to my bike instead, the basket buckled up and beat in from all the times it had fallen over. I could tell the back wheel was short on air as I rode to work, as always loosing my breath after the long, uphill road.

Asphalt, yelling teens and cigarette buds.

It was sunny outside, especially for spring, and for once I didn’t look weird in my sunglasses that I always wore. It would start getting warmer from now on and I wasn’t looking forwards to it one bit. I didn’t like being cold per se, but with spring and summer I was also forced to sweat in my many layers of clothes. Black attracted sunlight and all my colors were in dark shades.

Work was boring, as usual, and I spent my short break listening to Sasha and Annie nag about our new intern. I didn’t particularly feel sorry for him, he had been fucking up the simplest of assignments and tasks. I couldn’t even remember his face but I learned from Sasha’s gossip that he was apparently Reiner’s cousin.

I sat by the table with my coffee, staring out the window as they continued chattering. I had my phone ready; if anyone would try to talk to me I would just pretend to get occupied by my phone.

The kindergarten across the street was busy and colorful as usual, new flags in every color now attached to the fence. The kids must’ve put them up this morning. Two boys were playing football on the west side, the only two kids I could see from this side of the street. It looked like fun.

“Eren,” I voice appeared, calling for my attention. I turned to see Erwin standing in the door, his tie crooked.

“Two people have called in sick, could you do some overtime?” he asked, voice rough. He sounded sick, like he had a cold. Still looked great though.

“Sure,” I shrugged. It’s not like I wanted to, but I didn’t mind either. My apartment was small and dark, the office rather well-lit. I wasn’t feeling too bad either, so a well-lit space was okay. The money from work was always nice, but I already had a lot saved up.

I still had no idea what to use it for.

“Great, thanks,” he replied, already out the break room. He hadn’t even bothered to ask either Annie nor Sasha.

The extra 4 hours went by fast, but it was dark when I left. I wasn’t the last one but I couldn’t care less to wait for Jean. I had no idea what that dumb frat boy was even doing here. He called in “sick” half the time, for fucks sake.

The ride home was slow as usual, even if it was downhill. I glanced at the pizza house as it appeared on my right side, turning the thought in my head before I passed the place without stopping.

Streetlights, booming cars, drained.

I wasn’t feeling particularly hungry.

I jumped off my bike before turning left to enter my apartment’s driveway. I had been close to biking into people many times the first couple weeks. After getting scolded by Mrs. Josephson and barked at by her two pomeranians I didn’t bike inside anymore. I didn’t give a shit about honorifics when it came to her, I just didn’t know her first name. She was one of those people who refused to have anything but her last name on her mailbox.

Parking my bike in it’s regular stand I locked it in place, glancing at the rose bush again. Hopefully it wouldn’t get vandalized by some kids. This neighborhood wasn’t exactly “Arthur’s” neighborhood.

Glancing at my phone I realized I had gotten a notification by Facebook; Mikasa had added something. I unlocked my phone, familiarly pressing the code to the door, opening it. At least I tried to but got pushed back by something hard, something I assumed was the door.

I dropped my phone, falling backwards from the impact, not enough to fall on my butt though. I looked up in shock, staring into a bright pair of eyes.

“Uh,” I got out before bending down to pick up my phone, quickly checking for cracks.

“So sorry, I didn’t see you,” the guy said, taking a step towards me. I didn’t move back but got ready to if he tried to touch me.

“I’ve just moved in and I’m already knocking down my neighbors,” he said, a low chuckle leaving his lips. I let my eyes wonder over him; his undercut, his proper clothes and tired eyes. Yet his smile was kind as he extended his hand.

That was Levi.

Levi Ackerman.

Levi Ackerman was a man of few words but always got me to speak. He would nudge my shoulder when I didn’t reply, when we were sitting on my couch and watched B-movies. It was the first but not last time I invited him into my apartment, to watch god damn B-movies.

I liked to point out mistakes, and there were many, and I guess when I kept quiet it was Levi’s indication I wasn’t well.

I didn’t take any drugs just because I couldn’t be bothered. I didn’t believe in them, it was all placebo, I was sure. They tasted awful and costed so much. Too much for that taste and the fancy container.

No, instead I liked watching things. The TV, people, the cars, Levi. He was very easy to watch. Probably because he never turned to ask me why I was staring so much. He almost seemed to embrace it, or he just didn’t care.

Being neighbors made things easier. He forced me to meet Marco; a lanky and freckled guy who worked as a barista and never drank alcohol outside of work. Marco was kind and generally cool, not someone I would’ve expected to get familiar with. Originally I was persuaded by Levi to come to the movies with him, then he later told me his friend was joining us. Then, in the last second Levi couldn’t come, and I met up with Marco alone. It wasn’t awkward as I had expected it to be. It… was sort of nice. Marco was really kind.

Popcorn, twigs, cotton.

From the tips of my toes to my shaking fingers I felt warm in the sun, but not uncomfortable. Levi had shown me a secret way to the roof, by unlocking the janitor’s door and then crawling through a rather large vent. It was warm outside, the roof panels already heated by the sun under us. I stretched out, basking in the sun like a lizard, while Levi sat beside me. He had brought his cup of coffee with him and I listened to the occasional sipping while I had my eyes closed.

Before I met Levi I only knew one way to the roof, by climbing out my window and up Mrs. Josephson’s balcony. I had done it before, in cold October, to test out if I could reach the roof, if I ever felt like jumping.

“It’s nice, right? I don’t think I mind spring that much anymore,” Levi said, bringing me back to now. To then; that day of June. Yeah, it had to be June, which meant Levi was wrong. June was summer, wasn’t it?

I can’t remember what I replied, maybe I didn’t, but I remembered his words. Levi’s voice was very beautiful, very smooth but low. He sounded like he knew everything, like he had explored every single corner of the world. It felt like he had, because he could answer almost everything.

Levi made me happy. Over that summer of 2003 he made me a much happier me. I wouldn’t say he changed the Eren that staying in bed on New Year from 2002 to 2003, no. Instead Levi slowly let me, in my own way, find out that I wasn’t unworthy of life. It had been something I used to repeat constantly in my head, about how some other kid could’ve been born with my opportunities and made something so much better of it; a much better life.

But Levi made me change that thought, as he talked about how life was very simple but such a lucky thing for me to have. And when he said I was very educated about things I had learned throughout my young life I couldn’t help but to laugh, there on that roof in June. It was a sound I didn’t recognize at first, my laughter. Then I let it out again, curiously, listening to the sound of it. And when I started crying from all emotions coming crashing down, Levi held me. It all was let out, I felt so fucking light afterwards. So much pent up, so much bad stuff in my head, and really… it was just as simple as Levi said. Like white clouds, light fog or soft smoke. At least that’s what it felt like.

When Marco texted me the next day I typed yes without thinking. What he asked me I couldn’t remember.

Levi stuck around for a bit, smiling at me when we met in the stairs, like we somehow always seemed to do. Almost like he was waiting for me, almost like he was there, only for me.

August was warm, especially for August. Marco was rather warm too, and still very nice. And when we kissed for the first time it felt very okay.

When I rode my bike home I was smiling like a dumb child. Marco’s scent was still on my scarf that he had borrowed. And that was also okay. Very okay, I realized.

Marker, ringtone, mint.

Parking my bike I locked it in place as usual afterwards, turning towards the door. Doing a double take I stared at the shabby garden to my left, scanning the gravel road and fence. Somehow it felt like something was missing, but I couldn’t put my finger on what. With a mental shrug I continued up my stairs to my apartment, some lamps welcoming me home into light.

The corners of my apartment were still dark, some dusty, some left from before June. But I bet Marco could outshine that. I was sure he could.

I didn’t care about anyone at work, anyone in my apartment complex. I now had Marco, he was the only person I liked, the only one that mattered and the only one I knew.

I couldn’t remember anyone else.

**Author's Note:**

> _It's up to your opinion if Levi was an angel or if he was Eren's imagination. Levi was certainly something Eren needed at that time in his life._


End file.
